Sure, Trump and Biden are old. The similarities end there.

[homersapien 11,373]

By E.J. Dionne Jr.

 

The most convenient political habit of the moment is to natter on about how both President Biden and Donald Trump are unpopular and old and how Americans long for some new and energetic candidate (identity to be disclosed later).

This above-the-battle, “woe is us” posture makes those who adopt it look tough-minded, independent and clear-eyed. It puts Biden and Trump on the same level and then compares both with someone who doesn’t yet exist. Never mind that it’s far easier to imagine the perfect candidate than to find one.

This might be harmless if Biden and Trump really were equivalent, but nothing could be further from the truth.

It’s time for everyone, the media especially, to face up to the actual choice: Between constitutional democracy and authoritarianism. Between a normal human being and a self-involved, spiteful madman. Between a government that has performed well and a regime that would gyrate from one personal obsession to another.

News over the past few days provides another contrast: between a president seeking compromise to protect our southern border, while also getting help to Ukraine, and an opponent who claims (albeit with little evidence) that terrorists and drug dealers are rushing into the country — and who wants them to keep coming so he can win an election.

False equivalence is the bane of our politics, and it’s a particular problem for (I hate these terms) “legacy” or “mainstream” media. At its best, the old media — which I have been part of my entire career — takes on the essential work of informing the public about what is going on in the world with a sense of fairness and a dedication to truth, as best as it can be determined.

Journalists should never give up on this. But decades of attacks from the political right have made the mainstream media far more sensitive to the appearance of liberal bias than to worries about other forms of distortion. This makes formulas of false equivalence very attractive — statements along the lines of “Both sides are equally bad” or “What this person did is terrible, but notice this (far less egregious) act by the other guy.”

The Trump movement has played on the mainstream media’s, well, liberal guilt ever since its champion came down that escalator.

Reporters were told to take Trump “seriously, not literally.” No, we should do both. They were said to lack understanding of the people who were voting for him. There’s some truth here — the media does have a class bias — but understanding what might motivate a group of voters should not mean glorifying them, whether they support Trump or anyone else. It should certainly not preclude clarity about the difference between a politician who stokes and exploits their anger, and another who is trying to solve their problems.

Above all, it should not mean pretending that Trump and his opponents (whether that’s Biden, Hillary Clinton or Nikki Haley) live in the same moral universe as he does and are as flawed as he is.

The age issue has a lovely objectivity about it because Biden is 81. And voters’ unhappiness with the choice between Biden and Trump has real polling data to support it. I get why Haley says Trump and Biden are “equally bad” and too old. After all, she’s running against them both and wants to pry voters in her party away from their Trump habit. Putting Biden and Trump on the same level might be a way to GOP hearts.

But the fact that they are not “equally bad” was brought home on the night of the New Hampshire primary, when Trump went on an unhinged tirade against Haley. He was petty (“I watched her in the fancy dress that probably wasn’t so fancy”), threatening (“I don’t get too angry,” he said angrily, “I get even”) and vindictive (“She’s not going to win, but if she did, she would be under investigation”). Haley knows it’s absurd to pretend that Biden is capable of such an indecent display.

And on that age issue, it’s another sign of media skittishness that the 77-year-old Trump’s frequent miscues and flights from reality did not get much coverage until Republican Haley called out the speech in which he kept confusing “Nikki Haley” with “Nancy Pelosi.” Yes, strong women seem to drive him batty, but it should not have taken Haley to force a reckoning with Trump’s disassociation problems.

There’s no question Biden has a lot of work to do, particularly to motivate younger voters whose support he needs and who would prefer someone new and dynamic. But the fact that no Democrat of consequence chose to challenge Biden suggests he just might have the qualities required in this dangerous year: his character, his desire to hold the country together and his ability to keep the peace in his party. There could not be a sharper contrast with Trump.

[CoffeeTiger 5,108]

The fact is that a lot of voters hold Biden to a much higher standard of conduct and competence than they do Trump. 

That's not necessarily a bad thing or wrong. I'm not saying Biden shouldn't be held to a very high standard as President, but it does mean that even though both men are around the same age and aren't great public speakers, and have trouble stumbling over their words or getting full thoughts out, it hurts Biden way more in the polls and perception more than it does Trump. 

I think part of it is that when Biden gets confused he's more likely to stop speaking, stumble over his words, and make it obvious he lost his train of thought, whereas Trump just keeps talking a mile a minute  and when he gets confused or forgets what he's talking about he'll just start repeating the same things over and over again, change subjects at the drop of a hat, and start rambling about random s*** that makes no sense. 

What Trump says may make no sense whatsoever, but more people don't perceive it as a negative because he's still animated, moving his hands and talking with confidence and persistence. Trump acts like he BELIEVES in what he's saying...even if random gobbledygook that has no meaning to it.. 

People value the APPEARANCE of competence more than they do actual competence or performance. 

 

[I_M4_AU 7,838]

38 minutes ago, CoffeeTiger said:

People value the APPEARANCE of competence more than they do actual competence or performance. 

Actions speak louder than words.  Can you say with a straight face that Biden’s action have lived up to the hype of his campaign from 2020?

 

 

[auburnatl1 4,920]

Regardless of competence Biden made a series of bonehead policy mistakes - the withdrawal from Afghanistan was rushed and haphazard, he prioritized green, social issues, and college loan forgiveness type initiatives over  focusing on the basics - securing border integrity and inflation. And his tone towards Trump supporters was anything but an olive branch. Net net he ran under the banner of healing divisions and regardless of whether that was possible or not - it was obvious he didn’t try and pandered more to the extreme left than even to the center (ie manchin). 

For maga to work it requires an enemy. It’s an ideology based on being against something more than being about something (that’s why every trump criticism instantly flips to a Biden attack).  It’s not big thinking stuff. And after getting smoked in 3 successive elections, maga was tracking towards just being a niche in the gop. But 14 months later its been resurrected. Maga needs red meat (ie  the “open border” narrative) for it to function and energize, and Biden gave them a dump truck of it.

[I_M4_AU 7,838]

5 minutes ago, auburnatl1 said:

For maga to work it requires an enemy. It’s an ideology based on being against something more than being about something (that’s why every trump criticism instantly flips to a Biden attack).  It’s not big thinking stuff. And after getting smoked in 3 successive elections, maga was tracking towards just being a niche in the gop. But 14 months later its been resurrected. Maga needs red meat (ie  the “open border” narrative) for it to function and energize, and Biden gave them a dump truck of it.

You were right on the first paragraph, but this one is just trying to blame Biden’s enemy MAGA, whatever that is.  Conservatives are reluctant to change just for change sake, while the left is has an out with the old because it is old philosophy.  No thought of how it will impact the future the American citizens.

Do you really think the *open border* is a narrative?  How Joe handles this crisis at the same time handling Iran’s aggression toward the American soldier will tell us a lot.  This week will be important.

[auburnatl1 4,920]

2 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

You were right on the first paragraph, but this one is just trying to blame Biden’s enemy MAGA, whatever that is.  Conservatives are reluctant to change just for change sake, while the left is has an out with the old because it is old philosophy.  No thought of how it will impact the future the American citizens.

Do you really think the *open border* is a narrative?  How Joe handles this crisis at the same time handling Iran’s aggression toward the American soldier will tell us a lot.  This week will be important.

You agree with my first paragraph because it’s a criticism of Biden. Not the second because it’s a criticism of maga. Got it.

We have 20000 border agents so no it’s not “open”. But it is incompetent and it’s failing. And because the gop now sees it as a major weakness of Biden - they have no interest in fixing it either.

Maga is about redirecting but not solving. Trump is corrupt, so Biden is just as corrupt. Not supporting Ukraine  … make it instead about the border. MJT is says something crazy, post Omar doing something nuttier. Predictable as sunrises.

I agree changing for changing sake is a tendency of liberals. But they do provide value when they’re not losing their minds - social security, equal rights, minimum wage, ect. All driven by Dems.  Even the social justice issues started as well meaning -and then inevitably went too far and unhinged. As I’ve said before - I find both maga and progressive as two sides of the same extremist nutty coin - and I’m hoping in this election via 3rd or whatever, sane moderates man up and take the country back.

 

[I_M4_AU 7,838]

13 minutes ago, auburnatl1 said:

You agree with my first paragraph because it’s a criticism of Biden. Not the second because it’s a criticism of maga. Got it.

I have an issue with calling all Republicans/conservatives MAGA.  It is inaccurate and just following Biden’s narrative he made up.

15 minutes ago, auburnatl1 said:

But it is incompetent and it’s failing. And because the gop now sees it as a major weakness of Biden - they have no interest in fixing it either.

Now sees????  The GOP have been calling Biden out about his border policies for two years or so.  You are just now catching on.  Go back and watch some of Ted Cruz’s YouTube videos on the subject, they just didn’t pop up yesterday.  The GOP has hauled Mayorkas in front of Congress for years.  Biden has done nothing and you believe it just a ploy to get rid of Biden.  Biden’s avoidance of the issue is what caused this issue, blame him.

20 minutes ago, auburnatl1 said:

Maga is about redirecting but not solving. Trump is corrupt, so Biden is just as corrupt. Not supporting Ukraine  … make it instead about the border. MJT is says something crazy, post Omar doing something nuttier. Predictable as sunrises.

This is politics, I don’t necessarily like it, but you pick your battles and Joe is losing on all fronts.  Oh, by the way, Omar has stepped over the line, but you can’t see it.

 

22 minutes ago, auburnatl1 said:

I find both maga and progressive as two sides of the same extremist nutty coin - and I’m hoping in this election via 3rd or whatever, sane moderates man up and take the country back.

We can only hope.

[auburnatl1 4,920]

5 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

I have an issue with calling all Republicans/conservatives MAGA.  It is inaccurate and just following Biden’s narrative he made up.

Now sees????  The GOP have been calling Biden out about his border policies for two years or so.  You are just now catching on.  Go back and watch some of Ted Cruz’s YouTube videos on the subject, they just didn’t pop up yesterday.  The GOP has hauled Mayorkas in front of Congress for years.  Biden has done nothing and you believe it just a ploy to get rid of Biden.  Biden’s avoidance of the issue is what caused this issue, blame him.

This is politics, I don’t necessarily like it, but you pick your battles and Joe is losing on all fronts.  Oh, by the way, Omar has stepped over the line, but you can’t see it.

 

We can only hope.

I grew up in Miami - I promise I long ago understood the issues and consequences with illegal immigration.  During Biden’s term illegal integration has doubled, which is a train wreck, but during trumps tenure it was about the same as Obama’s - not acceptable either. We’re just comparing bad with worse. Biden ignored the issue and Obama and Trump EO’d and bitched about it. Im waiting for someone to 1) prioritize it as critical to national security 2) solve it - minimize people showing up at the border in the 1st place, eliminating illegal crossings 3) humanly  returning them quickly. And it has to be as a bipartisan bill or it’s a bandaid with funding problems.

[I_M4_AU 7,838]

18 minutes ago, auburnatl1 said:

I grew up in Miami - I promise I long ago understood the issues and consequences with illegal immigration.  During Biden’s term illegal integration has doubled, which is a train wreck, but during trumps tenure it was about the same as Obama’s - not acceptable either. We’re just comparing bad with worse. Biden ignored the issue and Obama and Trump EO’d and bitched about it. Im waiting for someone to 1) prioritize it as critical to national security 2) solve it - minimize people showing up at the border in the 1st place, eliminating illegal crossings 3) humanly  returning them quickly. And it has to be as a bipartisan bill or it’s a bandaid with funding problems.

The bill supposedly in front of Congress is allowing 5,000 a day in and giving Biden some new emergency powers.  This is exactly what you don’t want.  Biden wanting more powers when the laws on the books are sufficient is a non starter.  The House passed the HR2 Border Security act about a year ago so why not vote on that resolution?  This is going to take a long time to resolve because the two sides are so far apart.

[auburnatl1 4,920]

35 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

The bill supposedly in front of Congress is allowing 5,000 a day in and giving Biden some new emergency powers.  This is exactly what you don’t want.  Biden wanting more powers when the laws on the books are sufficient is a non starter.  The House passed the HR2 Border Security act about a year ago so why not vote on that resolution?  This is going to take a long time to resolve because the two sides are so far apart.

I understand which is why we disagreed on Ukraine. The bill is a mess, Ukraine’s future is now tied to it, and the gop is not allowing the bill to be broken up.

This is why I feel Biden will win easily once the candidate options are no long theoretical (the anti trump adds will be vicious and will stick). In the purple states abortion, Ukraine, and trump repulsion will overwhelm the border issue in the metro suburbs. Lesser of 2 evils logic. Haley would have mediated that but maga is maga.

And a 2nd term Biden will be under no pressure to act on the border.

 

[I_M4_AU 7,838]

1 hour ago, auburnatl1 said:

I understand which is why we disagreed on Ukraine. The bill is a mess, Ukraine’s future is now tied to it, and the gop is not allowing the bill to be broken up.

This is why I feel Biden will win easily once the candidate options are no long theoretical (the anti trump adds will be vicious and will stick). In the purple states abortion, Ukraine, and trump repulsion will overwhelm the border issue in the metro suburbs. Lesser of 2 evils logic. Haley would have mediated that but maga is maga.

And a 2nd term Biden will be under no pressure to act on the border.

 

Disagree, but you knew that.

[homersapien 11,373]

On 1/29/2024 at 2:57 PM, auburnatl1 said:

.... As I’ve said before - I find both maga and progressive as two sides of the same extremist nutty coin - and I’m hoping in this election via 3rd or whatever, sane moderates man up and take the country back.

 

Those "sane moderates" that elected Biden president in 2020?

(And again with the false equivalency - "two sides of the same coin". )
 

Edited February 1 by homersapien

[DKW 86 7,424]

On 1/28/2024 at 12:48 PM, homersapien said:

By E.J. Dionne Jr.

You quoted EJ Dionne. You need to apologize to the rest of the board for wasting our time.

Edited February 3 by DKW 86

[DKW 86 7,424]

On 1/29/2024 at 4:00 PM, auburnatl1 said:

I understand which is why we disagreed on Ukraine. The bill is a mess, Ukraine’s future is now tied to it, and the gop is not allowing the bill to be broken up.

This is why I feel Biden will win easily once the candidate options are no long theoretical (the anti trump adds will be vicious and will stick). In the purple states abortion, Ukraine, and trump repulsion will overwhelm the border issue in the metro suburbs. Lesser of 2 evils logic. Haley would have mediated that but maga is maga.

And a 2nd term Biden will be under no pressure to act on the border.

 

And he will again turn his back on the entire nation. All he is saying now is just CYA.

[DKW 86 7,424]

On 1/29/2024 at 1:57 PM, auburnatl1 said:

You agree with my first paragraph because it’s a criticism of Biden. Not the second because it’s a criticism of maga. Got it.

We have 20000 border agents so no it’s not “open”. But it is incompetent and it’s failing. And because the gop now sees it as a major weakness of Biden - they have no interest in fixing it either.

Maga is about redirecting but not solving. Trump is corrupt, so Biden is just as corrupt. Not supporting Ukraine  … make it instead about the border. MJT is says something crazy, post Omar doing something nuttier. Predictable as sunrises.

I agree changing for changing sake is a tendency of liberals. But they do provide value when they’re not losing their minds - social security, equal rights, minimum wage, ect. All driven by Dems.  Even the social justice issues started as well meaning -and then inevitably went too far and unhinged. As I’ve said before - I find both maga and progressive as two sides of the same extremist nutty coin - and I’m hoping in this election via 3rd or whatever, sane moderates man up and take the country back.

 

<Applause.>

[DKW 86 7,424]

On 1/29/2024 at 12:35 PM, I_M4_AU said:

Actions speak louder than words.  Can you say with a straight face that Biden’s action have lived up to the hype of his campaign from 2020?

 

 

Biden has proved nothing if not the idea that he was not ready for major foreign policy problems and his inability to form sentences.

[homersapien 11,373]

10 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

You quoted EJ Dionne. You need to apologize to the rest of the board for wasting our time.

Well I certainly don't want to "waste the time" of the forum's self-appointed  iconoclast. 

You are really something else.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._J._Dionne

 

 

 

[jj3jordan 2,053]

4 hours ago, homersapien said:

Well I certainly don't want to "waste the time" of the forum's self-appointed  iconoclast. 

You are really something else.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._J._Dionne

 

 

 

He's got you there homer. EJ Dionne is useless.

[DKW 86 7,424]

22 hours ago, homersapien said:

Well I certainly don't want to "waste the time" of the forum's self-appointed  iconoclast. 

You are really something else.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._J._Dionne

 

 

 

And then you quote Wikipedia. Wow. I thought you had troughed out before, I was wrong.

EJD is the originator of mindless narrative monkey thinking. He pioneered it easily 30 years ago during the first Clinton Admin. He does nothing but parrot the party narrative no matter what. Even blindingly staring at the failure of whatever policy, open immigration as an example, EJD can never bring himself to state what every sane person in the room can see. Granted, he will on occasion admit in a closed-door situation that yes, Liberals and the Press do indeed get things completely wrong. But he will never say that openly to the mass of the American Public. He would rather die than be seen openly ADMITTING what everyone sees. 

The only thing he ever wrote that meant a dime. Of course he said this when no one that mattered was in the room. 

“Let's be honest about journalists: We find a lot of ways of being wrong.”
― E.J. Dionne Jr.

 

Edited February 4 by DKW 86

[homersapien 11,373]

19 hours ago, jj3jordan said:

He's got you there homer. EJ Dionne is useless.

You're right.  He really "got me".

[homersapien 11,373]

1 hour ago, DKW 86 said:

And then you quote Wikipedia. Wow. I thought you had troughed out before, I was wrong.

EJD is the originator of mindless narrative monkey thinking. He pioneered it easily 30 years ago during the first Clinton Admin. He does nothing but parrot the party narrative no matter what. Even blindingly staring at the failure of whatever policy, open immigration as an example, EJD can never bring himself to state what every sane person in the room can see. Granted, he will on occasion admit in a closed-door situation that yes, Liberals and the Press do indeed get things completely wrong. But he will never say that openly to the mass of the American Public. He would rather die than be seen openly ADMITTING what everyone sees. 

The only thing he ever wrote that meant a dime. Of course he said this when no one that mattered was in the room. 

“Let's be honest about journalists: We find a lot of ways of being wrong.”
― E.J. Dionne Jr.

 

Forgive me oh great iconoclast, for I have sinned.

But we aren't all as insightful and brilliant as you.  Some of us mere mortals are susceptible to "mindless narrative monkey thinking".  And, apparently, there's no bottom to the depths - or 'troughs" of our thinking.

Bless you for attempts to set us straight, as futile as they are.

[jj3jordan 2,053]

27 minutes ago, homersapien said:

Forgive me oh great iconoclast, for I have sinned.

But we aren't all as insightful and brilliant as you.  Some of us mere mortals are susceptible to "mindless narrative monkey thinking".  And, apparently, there's no bottom to the depths - or 'troughs" of our thinking.

Bless you for attempts to set us straight, as futile as they are.

Futility is your strong point.

[homersapien 11,373]

13 minutes ago, jj3jordan said:

Futility is your strong point.

Futility is not a personal quality. 

It's a natural result of advocating rational thought in an supremely irrational climate. So, while I'll plead guilty to rationality, the futility resides in you.

 

Edited February 4 by homersapien

[DKW 86 7,424]

2 hours ago, homersapien said:

Futility is not a personal quality. 

It's a natural result of advocating rational thought in an supremely irrational climate. So, while I'll plead guilty to rationality, the futility resides in you.

 

Then why would you ever quote Dionne and Wikipedia? Wikipedia is an unregulated open source where the dregs can and do regularly write pure crap. 

From 2009

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32588168

Wikipedia's just announced plans to restrict the editing of some of its articles. Under the new system, any changes made to pages of still-living people will have to be approved by an "experienced volunteer" before going online.

The change marks a significant shift in the philosophy of the openly edited user-controlled encyclopedia — and that may not be a bad thing. Here are 15 of the biggest Wikipedia blunders the new editing system might have prevented. These false facts, according to widely published accounts, all appeared on the Wikipedia site at some point.

 

1. Robbie Williams eats domestic pets in pubs for money.
To be fair, we can't disprove this statement, which popped up on the singer's Wikipedia page in 2006. But we'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

2. David Beckham was a Chinese goalkeeper in the 18th century.
And you thought scoring Posh Spice was impressive.

3. Paul Reiser's dead.
If you fell for this 2008 Wikipedia hoax, well — let's just say I'm not so mad about you.

4. Sinbad's dead.
Couldn't tell ya what he's actually doing these days, but contrary to a 2007 Wikipedia claim, Sinbad is still around.

5. Sergey Brin's sexy, dating Jimmy Wales, and dead.
The Google god's Wikipedia page has seen more changes than his company's seen betas. Remarks on Sergey Brin's bio have claimed he's gay and dating Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales; he's dead, having ended his life in Moscow; and he's "sexy."

(I'll leave the judgment on the last one up to you.)

6. Tony Blair worships Hitler.
The former British prime minister was a regular target for Wikipedia tampering. That's what we read on Wikipedia, anyway.

7. The Duchess of Cornwall's Christian name is Cow-miller.
Anyone else suddenly have a hankering for a hamburger?

8. The University of Cincinnati's former president is a whore.
Former University of Cincinnati president Nancy Zimpher was listed as a "prostitute" and a "witch" on her Wikipedia page. Good thing it wasn't true, as that would make for one dangerous combination.

9. Robert Byrd's dead.
United States Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia was pronounced dead by Wikipedia in January of this year. The senator was resurrected by a Wikipedia correction a short time later.

10. Ted Kennedy died in January.
Months before this week's news that Ted Kennedy had passed away, his Wikipedia page reported his death. The entry said Kennedy had died following his seizure at January's presidential inauguration.

11. John Seigenthaler helped assassinate John and Robert Kennedy.
The retired journalist wrote a full editorial about his Wikipedia ordeal, in which he was accused of being somehow involved in the assassinations of both John and Robert Kennedy. The errant info, Seigenthaler says, was on the site for four and a half months.

12. A yacht killed British TV presenter Vernon Kay.
That's a rough way to go. Especially when it never happened.

13. Conan O'Brien assaults sea turtles while canoeing.
Stephen Colbert was to blame for this hoax. I can't decide which is more unbelievable: that Conan assaulted a sea turtle, or that he went canoeing.

14. British TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh published a new version of the Kama Sutra.
He did, however, slap stickers on a bikini model for ratings.

15. Sienna Miller has modeled nude.
I don't care if it's not true — I'm still going to require proof on this one. 

JR Raphael

 

 

 

[homersapien 11,373]

3 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

Then why would you ever quote Dionne and Wikipedia? Wikipedia is an unregulated open source where the dregs can and do regularly write pure crap. 

From 2009

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32588168

Wikipedia's just announced plans to restrict the editing of some of its articles. Under the new system, any changes made to pages of still-living people will have to be approved by an "experienced volunteer" before going online.

The change marks a significant shift in the philosophy of the openly edited user-controlled encyclopedia — and that may not be a bad thing. Here are 15 of the biggest Wikipedia blunders the new editing system might have prevented. These false facts, according to widely published accounts, all appeared on the Wikipedia site at some point.

 

1. Robbie Williams eats domestic pets in pubs for money.
To be fair, we can't disprove this statement, which popped up on the singer's Wikipedia page in 2006. But we'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

2. David Beckham was a Chinese goalkeeper in the 18th century.
And you thought scoring Posh Spice was impressive.

3. Paul Reiser's dead.
If you fell for this 2008 Wikipedia hoax, well — let's just say I'm not so mad about you.

4. Sinbad's dead.
Couldn't tell ya what he's actually doing these days, but contrary to a 2007 Wikipedia claim, Sinbad is still around.

5. Sergey Brin's sexy, dating Jimmy Wales, and dead.
The Google god's Wikipedia page has seen more changes than his company's seen betas. Remarks on Sergey Brin's bio have claimed he's gay and dating Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales; he's dead, having ended his life in Moscow; and he's "sexy."

(I'll leave the judgment on the last one up to you.)

6. Tony Blair worships Hitler.
The former British prime minister was a regular target for Wikipedia tampering. That's what we read on Wikipedia, anyway.

7. The Duchess of Cornwall's Christian name is Cow-miller.
Anyone else suddenly have a hankering for a hamburger?

8. The University of Cincinnati's former president is a whore.
Former University of Cincinnati president Nancy Zimpher was listed as a "prostitute" and a "witch" on her Wikipedia page. Good thing it wasn't true, as that would make for one dangerous combination.

9. Robert Byrd's dead.
United States Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia was pronounced dead by Wikipedia in January of this year. The senator was resurrected by a Wikipedia correction a short time later.

10. Ted Kennedy died in January.
Months before this week's news that Ted Kennedy had passed away, his Wikipedia page reported his death. The entry said Kennedy had died following his seizure at January's presidential inauguration.

11. John Seigenthaler helped assassinate John and Robert Kennedy.
The retired journalist wrote a full editorial about his Wikipedia ordeal, in which he was accused of being somehow involved in the assassinations of both John and Robert Kennedy. The errant info, Seigenthaler says, was on the site for four and a half months.

12. A yacht killed British TV presenter Vernon Kay.
That's a rough way to go. Especially when it never happened.

13. Conan O'Brien assaults sea turtles while canoeing.
Stephen Colbert was to blame for this hoax. I can't decide which is more unbelievable: that Conan assaulted a sea turtle, or that he went canoeing.

14. British TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh published a new version of the Kama Sutra.
He did, however, slap stickers on a bikini model for ratings.

15. Sienna Miller has modeled nude.
I don't care if it's not true — I'm still going to require proof on this one. 

JR Raphael

 

 

 

Just as with the internet as a whole, Intelligent and educated people are capable of discerning fact from fantasy.

Sorry you have a problem with that, but it's understandable.